Never Let You Go
by koughami
Summary: Just when Eren was starting to get a chance at a normal, happy life, she came in like a hurricane and pulled him back under the waves. This time, he just might drown.
1. Chapter 1

_**Author's Note: **_**This story started off in my head as a happy-go-lucky high school AU, but it morphed into something dark and twisted. And I love it. I should have another chapter posted by the end of next week, so stay tuned!**

**Also, this fic deals with some pretty touchy topics (Child abuse, child abandonment, drug use, and Levi Ackerman among other things). So, if that bothers you, then don't read it.**

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The droning blare of an alarm clock dragged Levi Ackerman out of a deep slumber. He blindly reached his right hand over and hit the snooze button once, twice, three times before the damn thing finally shut up.

For the first time in ages everyone had slept peacefully through the night, he realized. Nobody woke up unexpectedly to screams of terror echoing off the walls. There were no half-choked sobs coming from the room at the end of the hall. In fact, the only sounds that could be heard were the slight snoring from the room to the right of his and the soft piano music coming from the stereo on the desk across the room. It was a miracle to say the least, and one that he was very thankful for.

He laid there for a few minutes doing nothing but simply thinking. Thinking about the events that had led to him raising two children instead of one. He had no obligation to Eren, and yet he felt responsible for him anyways. Mikasa was his flesh and blood, whether he wanted her in the first place or not, but Eren was nothing to him. Should have been nothing to him. But there he was, living with the literal green-eyed monster under his roof.

The alarm started blaring again in his ears again, breaking his train of thought. He had the sudden urge to just throw the object across the room in the hope that it would break. But that would mean having to buy a new one, and with two teenagers to look after and a shitty job of watching even more teenagers, he didn't have the spare change to buy a damn alarm clock. He reached his arm over once more and hit the off button, silencing it until tomorrow morning. He resisted the urge to just shove his head under his pillow and sleep for the rest of the day because that's not what responsible adults did.

With a groan, he pushed the warmth of the blankets off of his body and stepped into the cold morning air. He quickly made his way into the bathroom that was connected to the master bedroom and turned the knob labeled 'heat' up to full blast. As an afterthought he turned the cold on just a bit to keep the water from burning his skin. He shucked off his boxers and t-shirt before practically diving into the scalding spray of the shower. By the time he was finished and dressed for work, he could hear Mikasa and Eren in the kitchen.

"It's too fucking early for anyone to function." Eren grumbled moodily, not noticing Levi standing behind him.

"Watch your mouth, brat." He said as he walked by Mikasa, pressing a quick 'good-morning' kiss to her forehead.

"It's your damn fault." Eren said as he pulled his brown hoodie up over his head. He banged his head on the table and Levi snorted, but didn't comment any further. He knew it was true. The language he used on a daily basis could make a sailor blush with shame. He poured himself a cup of coffee sat down at the table where the morning paper was already waiting for him. He let his eyes scan over the pages quickly while being careful not to spill any of his precious caffeine on his white button down shirt. He sipped the drink in silence until Mikasa placed a plate of pancakes and sausage in front of him.

"Thank you, Mikasa." He said as he folded the paper and set it to the side. Sitting across from him, Eren was only picking at his food. Levi frowned as he took a bite of the warm blueberry pancakes. "What's wrong, brat?"

"Don't wanna go." Eren said as he took a swig of orange juice.

"Too bad. You don't have a choice." Levi quipped, eating another bite of pancakes. "I took my personal time to make sure you studied your ass off this summer so you could catch up with all the classes you missed and could actually be in the grade you're supposed to be in. I'm not letting that go to waste."

Eren was silent, but at least finished his breakfast, which was a good sign. The boy excused himself from the table and left the room after putting his dirty dishes in the sink. As soon as he was sure that Eren was out of earshot, Levi leaned forward and put his head in his hands.

"What the hell am I doing?" He muttered to himself. Mikasa cleared her throat, causing him to look at her.

"That's a dollar to the swear jar." She said, deadpan. Levi stared back with an equally expressionless face.

"It's my house. I pay the bills. The swear jar doesn't exist for me."

The rest of the morning at the Ackerman house was routine and uneventful. Levi had another cup of coffee, finished reading the paper, and made sure the three of them were on schedule and out of the house by seven. The three of them piled into Levi's black SUV and took the short drive to Trost High School. By the time the car pulled to a halt in the teacher's parking lot, the air in the car was tense with silence. Mikasa grabbed her bag and was out of the car with a quick 'see you later, dad!' before anyone could say anything to stop her. Levi rolled his eyes at her, but then turned around to face Eren with a serious face. He sat in the back seat nervously fiddling with a zipper on his backpack. He didn't look up as Levi began to speak.

"Eren, I know you're not happy. I know you don't want to be here, but you worked so damn hard this summer for this. You deserve a chance at a normal life, and I'm not letting you fucking pass that up." He paused for a moment, studying how Eren tensed up, but then plowed on ahead anyways. "If anything goes wrong today, and I mean anything, you come to me or Erwin. You know where our classrooms are. If you start to feel a panic attack coming on, if you start to think you can't handle it, then you come straight to one of us. Whichever is closest. But if I think that you're faking just so you can go home, you can bet your ass there'll be consequences."

"Deal." Eren sighed. He fidgeted in his seat but looked up and made eye contact. "You and Erwin have done so much for me already but I don't want to be a bur-"

"Not another word." Levi said quickly, effectively cutting him off. "I may be a grade A asshole, but I'm not heartless. I wasn't going to let you get passed around in foster care when I know firsthand how shitty the system is. I'm an adult. I don't need or want thanks for what I did. What I want is for you to get better and I know it's going to take time. A lot more time than a year and a half, but going to school is a step in the right direction. So grab your bag and get out of the car and go see Armin. He looks like he's going to explode if you don't go see him soon."

Eren looked out the window to see Armin rocking back and forth on his heels and let out a short laugh. He hoisted his backpack onto his shoulder and got out of the car and made his way over to where Armin and a small group of people were standing. None of the faces were familiar to Eren except the blonde girl, Annie, standing next to Armin. He remembered seeing her a few times over the summer, which wasn't surprising since she was his best friend's girlfriend.

The rest of the group was unfamiliar to him. Probably because the only Freshman in the circle were himself and Mikasa. Armin was a year above the pair despite being the same age. Back in middle school they had pushed him forward a grade, and even though he was only a sophomore now he was taking all advanced classes. It didn't surprise Eren at all because Armin was the smartest person he knew.

"Aren't you going to introduce everyone?" Asked a guy with a face that Eren thought looked quite equine.

"You guys are all nearly adults. You don't need me to introduce you. So get to it." Amin replied. There was a collective eye-roll at Armin, who turned a bit red in the face.

"Jean Kirschtein." Horseface said, holding a hand out towards Eren and Mikasa. Mikasa reached out a hand and shook it with a firm grip.

"Mikasa Ackerman." She replied. A guy with muscles the size of a mountain gave her a confused look.

"Ackerman…. Any relation to Mr. Ackerman, the Lit teacher here?" He asked. Mikasa just laughed.

"That would be my dad." She explained.

"Oh God, I feel so sorry for you. How do you put up with him 24/7? Just having to sit an hour through his class is torture!"

"I've never had a problem with him." Mikasa shrugged. "But then again, I've never had to see his teacher side, so who knows?"

A few laughs went around and then the introductions continued and names were exchanged. When Mikasa snapped her fingers in front of Eren's face he realized that he had spaced out and was probably the only one who hadn't told the group his name.

"Eren Jaeger." He said quickly, noticing the strange looks he received.

"You'll have to excuse my brother, guys. He's dumb as a brick." Mikasa joked lightly, elbowing him in the ribs. Eren elbowed her back with equal force and turned on his heel to walk away.

"If you're going to be insulting I can just leave." He said, throwing his arms into the air. She rolled her eyes and grabbed his shoulder, turning him back around.

"You don't look like siblings. You don't even have the same last name." Jean pointed out. The rest of the group were sporting confused looks. Eren froze. Beside him, Armin tensed visibly. Mikasa's hand on his shoulder tightened slightly and she gave him a concerned look out of the corner of her eye.

"I'm adopted." Eren supplied simply. Jean probably hadn't meant anything by his comment, and there's no way he could have known the exact circumstances behind Eren's adoption. The subject was dropped almost as quickly as it was brought up. Conversation moved smoothly after that and Eren found himself actually enjoying their company by the time the bell rang, signaling that it was time to go to first period. Eren pulled the straps on his backpack tight around his shoulders and thanked his guardian angel that Mikasa was in his first class, though he wasn't particularly happy that it was math.

The rest of the day moved quickly, and when lunch rolled around he was feeling much more at ease than he had been earlier that morning. By theend of the day he was actually looking forward to his next day at school. The incident that morning had been all but forgotten. The only thought on his mind was how sore his hand was going to be after filling out and signing all of the forms from the student handbook. Before he left the building he made sure to stop by room 104.

He poked his head in to see Levi sitting behind his desk looking down at some papers. His expression made it seem like he wanted to commit mass homicide. He chuckled quietly, causing the man to look up from his work.

"Mikasa and I are gonna shove our bags in your car and then walk home, okay?"

Levi simply made a grunting noise and then looked back at the papers. Eren resisted the urge to outright laugh at the man, but snorted as he walked down the hallway to the exit to meet Mikasa. The walk home was only twenty minutes if they took their time, though much less leisurely when they had twenty pounds worth of textbooks and papers on their backs. The pair left their bags in the car, then made sure it was locked before walking home.

By the time Levi got home, Eren had dozed off on the couch while watching some documentary on Discovery Channel, and Mikasa had been playing video games in her room for about an hour with no signs of stopping. Levi called the two to the kitchen, where three large pizzas were waiting for them.

"Pepperoni or cheese?" Levi asked as he passed out paper plates.

"I'm a teenage boy, Levi. I don't care as long as it's food." Eren said as he grabbed the pizza on top, which turned out to be pepperoni. He took three slices and piled them on the plate, while Mikasa grabbed two slices of the plain cheese, and Levi grabbed one of each. The trio ate their pizza with very little conversation, and when they were all satisfied they made their way to the living room to start filling out the paperwork from school.

"That looks just like Jean Kirschtein." Eren joked as he saw the horse on the screen of the television. Mikasa frowned.

"Eren, for the last time, Jean does not look like a horse!"

"No. Eren's right." Levi said seriously.

After five minutes of arguing over the quality of Jean Kirschtein's face, Mikasa gave up on convincing them of anything. Two hours and five paper cuts (three of these were Eren's) later, they decided that they'd made a big enough dent in the paperwork and anything else could wait until they all had some sleep. Most of it wasn't even due until the end of the week anyways, and it was only Monday. They said their goodnights and trailed off to their respective rooms in what they assumed would be another night of uninterrupted sleep.

They were wrong.


	2. Chapter 2

**_Author's Note_: This chapter took a lot longer to write than I thought it would. But it was worth it. You guys should hit me up on Tumblr. ;) (The link is on my profile.)**

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Levi should have been surprised when he was roused from his sleep by terrified screams coming from the room across the hall. He would have been lying if he said that he wasn't. By now it was almost second nature to him to get up and leave the comfortable warmth of his bed and be greeted by the frigid air of the early morning hours. He wasn't shocked to see Eren thrashing around wildly on his mattress, trapped in his own mind.

He knew better than to grab him and try to shake him awake. He had made that mistake the first night Eren slept in this house and it had made the situation much worse than it already was. Levi knew by now that the best way to bring him out of one of his nightmares was to make him feel safe, which was not an easy task. By the time Mikasa had blearily stumbled into Eren's room ten minutes later, she was greeted with the sight of Eren clinging to Levi's shirt for dear life as his body shook with the force of the sobs he couldn't seem to hold back, despite the fact that he was trying to stifle them.

"He-" Eren managed to choke out one word before screwing his eyes shut tightly. He tried to hold back the tears that were freely falling down his cheeks, but it was a futile effort. Levi ignored Mikasa at the door, and instead wrapped his arms around the boy and smoothed his hair down. He overlooked the fact that the boy was staining his favorite shirt with tears. Shirts were replaceable. This was far more important.

"Eren, Grisha is _never_ going to hurt you again," He said forcefully, pushing Eren back far enough so that he could look him in his eyes. The boy opened his mouth to protest but Levi gave him a look that caused him to shut it again, though he still shook with sobs and tears still ran down his face. "If he gets out of prison and even _tries_ to come anywhere near you, I'll put a bullet in his fucking brain."

Eren said nothing. Instead he just leaned back into Levi's side and cried. Mikasa padded softly across the room and crawled into the open space on Eren's other side, not saying a word. By the time Eren's cries softened into snores, Levi didn't have the heart to move and risk waking him again. That, and he was fucking tired. He looked over to see Mikasa breathing evenly while curled up next to Eren. He rolled his tired eyes and knew that as a parent, he should probably worry that his teenage daughter and his adopted teenage son would sleep in the same bed, but they had been doing this since they were six and were closer than most siblings were. Before he even realized it, he too was fast asleep.

Levi was used to Eren falling asleep on him after one of his nightmares. He _wasn't, _however, used to falling asleep himself and actually waking up next to the boy, and on time too. Normally he would just wait until Eren was fast asleep once more and then he would slip back into the comfort of his own bed. It was a miracle that they had somehow managed to make it out of the house on schedule when morning came, although it was with one less cup of coffee than Levi preferred. Instead of drinking his usual third cup at home, put it in a shiny silver travel mug. He sat behind the wheel of his car and finished while Eren and Mikasa joined the same group of people from the day before.

"Eren, you look like you've just come from the set of _The Walking Dead_," Armin commented, noticing the dark circles under his friend's eyes. "Is everything okay?"

"Well, I can't promise that I won't try to eat someone's face off by the end of the day…" Eren muttered under his breath as he set his backpack on the ground. "But yeah, I'm fine. Everything's fine. I just had a rough night, that's all."

"Rough night?" Jean snorted. "That must have been quite an accomplishment with Mr. Stick-Up-His-Ass living under the same roof. So who was she?"

Jean almost regretted the words as soon as they had left his mouth. Eren had lunged at him and it was only thanks to Mikasa holding him back that his fist hadn't connected with Jean's face.

"Don't you ever fucking speak about Levi that way you asshole. You don't know who or what you're talking about," Eren snarled, his face contorted with rage. He struggled against Mikasa's hold against him, jerking roughly in her grip.

"Calm the fuck down, Jaeger. It was just a joke," Jean said, holding his hands up in defense.

"Seriously, Eren. Jean didn't mean anything by it!" Marco chimed in from Jean's side.

"Oh, of course you're gonna side with horseface since you're _screwing_ him!"

"Eren, stop it," Mikasa said sharply. Her words seemed to snap him out of the fit of rage and he stopped struggling. He took a step away from the group and looked at them with eyes that were almost comically wide. Mikasa's face was void of all emotion except for a slight hint of disappointment. Armin gave him a look of concern that Eren hated. Marco had turned so red that you could barely tell that he even _had_ freckles. He decided not to look at Jean.

"I-I-I'm sorry, guys," Eren stammered. He backed away from the group slowly before he grabbed his backpack and ran. No one in the group went after him.

"The two of you wanna tell me what the hell just happened?" Jean asked, looking pointedly at Mikasa and Armin.

"It's none of your business," Mikasa snapped at him. He scowled at her in return.

"_Bullshit_. He just _made_ it my business when he tried to turn my face into a punching bag!"

"Just drop it, Jean. It's not our story to tell," Armin warned, the tone in his voice sharp. "If Eren ever wants you to know something, he'll tell you. But that's _his_ decision to make. Not ours. So just leave it alone until he's ready to talk about it."

Jean opened his mouth to protest, but the expressions on Mikasa and Armin's faces were enough for him to shut it again.

"The two of you wanna tell me what the hell just happened?" Jean said, looking pointedly at Mikasa and Armin.

XxXxXxX

By the time Erwin Smith entered the history classroom that morning, Eren was sitting silently at one of the desks in the back of the room. His body language and posture were completely normal, but the look in his eyes told Erwin a very different story. He sighed internally, but said nothing as he walked to the desk and shrugged the bag off of his left arm.

"You know, Eren, you don't have my class until fourth period. Is there any particular reason that you stopped by this morning?" He asked lightly, giving the boy a small smile. Eren shrugged and put his head down on the desk over his folded arms.

"Just didn't feel like dealing with people this morning," Eren muttered, staring off into space.

"You do realize that that just because I'm a teacher doesn't mean that I'm not a person," Erwin joked.

"Yeah, but _you_ won't ask questions that I'm not ready or willing to answer."

There was a brief moment of silence before Eren lifted his head and looked up at the history teacher. By now he didn't even blink at the awkward empty space at Erwin's right side where an arm should have been hanging. It had taken him a while to get used to it, but after years of knowing the man it was no longer something to stare at. Erwin gave him a small smile as he sank down into the black rolling chair behind his desk. Instead of commenting further, the blond opted for changing the subject.

"You should pop by the house sometime soon. He won't admit it, but Kayden misses having you around," He said as he turned to his computer screen, pressing the power button. Kayden was Erwin's seven year-old son who had formed an attachment to Eren. The boy claimed it was because Eren was fun while Armin was boring, but it was _really_ because Eren would let him win at hide-and-seek and sneak him cookies.

"You could always leave Clair and Kayden over at Levi's with us someday so you and Janice could have an evening to yourselves, you know," Eren supplied, the corner of his lips twitching. He knew that Erwin and his wife didn't get out much, since they had two small children to look after. Erwin looked over his shoulder and gave Eren an expression that he couldn't quite read.

"It's your house too, now," He commented. Eren shut his green eyes slowly and he took a deep breath through his nose.

"I know. It has been for six months," He said, a small smile tugging at the edge of his lips. "But it's been _home_ for years now."

The two talked comfortably until the first bell rang, signaling that classes were going to start in five minutes. Eren waved his goodbyes and scooped up his backpack before he left the classroom. By the time he walked into math, the incident with Jean was at the back of his mind, nearly forgotten.

The rest of the day passed without incident. After school Eren and Mikasa left their backpacks in Levi's car and walked home, like they had the day before. They settled into a comfortable routine and before anyone knew it, the first two months of school had passed. During this time, Eren managed to surprise himself by becoming friends with practically everyone in Armin's orbit. He was even on friendly terms with Jean, although the two weren't extremely close. They guy may have been a tactless horseface, but he was a genuine person and a good listener, which Eren valued.

The second week of school, a few seniors decided it would be fun to choose random freshman and shove them into various supply closets and leave them. Eren happened to be one of the poor souls that became the victims of the upperclassmen. He was also the last. He had been on his way to his third period class, taking his time since he was going to be tardy anyways, when three sets of strong arms grabbed him and pushed him into the tiny room.

He had started screaming. Not just pleas to open the door, but terrified, bone-chilling _screams_. The three seniors hadn't known how to react and so they just left him. It was Marco, Armin, and Jean who had been on their way back from a student-council meeting when they heard the noise. They opened the door only to find Eren, a shivering, sobbing mess huddled at the back of the closet. Armin had gone pale and without looking at either of his friends said two words.

"Get Levi," He barked, his tone extremely aggressive for the peppy attitude he normally possessed. Marco nodded and dashed off in the direction of the freshman English classroom. He hadn't even knocked on the door, not caring that he was interrupting the class that had already started.

"Mr. Ackerman, you-" Marco managed to get out before he was cut off.

"What could be so important that you felt the need to barge into my classroom and interrupt my lesson?" Levi asked, not even looking over his shoulder as he kept writing words on the whiteboard.

"Sir, it's Eren," Marco said quickly. Levi's hand dropped and the dry-erase marker fell from his fingers and onto the floor.

"Keep working. I'll be back," Levi barked at the classroom. Before another word could be spoken, he was out the door and was practically sprinting down the hallways.

It took Levi a full twenty minutes to get Eren calmed down enough to coax him out of the closet. He had ushered him into the office, told the principle he was taking him home and was out the door and in his car as soon as a substitute was there to replace him. The three boys who had forced him into the supply room were suspended from school for two weeks each, despite Levi's pushing for a full expulsion. It wasn't long after that day that Eren explained to Marco and Jean why his reaction to something as simple as being shoved into a janitor's closet had sent him into a full-blown panic attack. He owed it to them, since they _were_ the ones who found him. It had been an uncomfortable conversation at first, but the two had been extremely supportive and listened to him without saying a word until he was finished. It felt liberating to be able to talk about things with them. Like a weight had been lifted off of his chest.

Two months of school had passed and Eren was well on his way to being a normal high-schooler. The biggest of his worries was the look Levi was going to give him if he didn't clean his room by the time he got home, and the least of his concerns was whether or not he was going over to Armin's to hang out this weekend. Things were finally looking up for Eren Jaeger.


End file.
